Oakland Bulk & Oversized Terminal (OBOT) has sued the City of Oakland in federal court after facing strong opposition from environmentalists and others who oppose coal exports through the new bulk handling terminal OBOT wants to build. OBOT accused the Oakland City Council of an “unconstitutional abuse of its power.” OBOT is seeking an injunction against a city ordinance and resolution that prohibits the transportation and export of coal and petro...

Members of the Transportation Committee in Taiwan’s legislature discussed the merits of having Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. merge with the state-owned T aiwan International Port Corp. (TIPC) earlier this week, according to an article posted in the Taipei Times . The committee was scheduled to review a port construction budget during a meeting on Monday, but "lawmakers focused on possible measures to salvage debt-ridden state-run Yang Ming," the newspaper said. Y...

States and ports need tools and flexibility to adapt to new trade patterns and accommodate increased freight volumes, according to a new report issued today by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). The report, The State of Freight II - Implementing the FAST Act and Beyond , was issued about one year after President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act...

The Port of Savannah received four new super post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes at its Garden City Terminal on Monday, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said. The four cranes were designed by Konecranes of Finland and can work the largest ships that call the U.S. East Coast, reaching across vessels spanning 22 containers wide. With these new cranes, the Port of Savannah is now equipped with 20 new Panamax cranes and six post-Panamax cranes. Another four new Pana...

Hamilton Port Authority (HPA) named Ian Hamilton as its new president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2017. The port’s vice president of business development and real estate since 2008, Hamilton has 25 years of experience in international transportation and logistics, including previous stints as transatlantic trade director, Europe for CP Ships and business development manager for Hapag-Lloyd. National Football League Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino has joine...

House and Senate lawmakers reached an agreement on a huge water infrastructure bill that authorizes improvements for ports, inland waterways and flood protection, and includes emergency aid for addressing lead contamination in Flint, Mich.’s water system. The Water Infrastructure Improvements Act for the Nation (WIIN) Act essentially combined the renewal of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that was passed by both chambers earlier this year with authorizing language for...

DP World is partnering with Canada’s second largest pension fund to create a $5 billion Canadian (U.S. $3.7 billion) investment platform, the companies said in a joint statement. The Dubai-based operator will own a 55 percent stake in a new vehicle targeting port and terminal investment opportunities outside of the United Arab Emirates, while Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) will hold the other 45 percent. The investment vehicle will be seeded with two ...

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has appointed Niam Chiang Meng to the position of chairman, effective Dec. 16, 2016. The current deputy chairman of MPA, Niam succeeds Lucien Wong, who is stepping down from his post to assume the office of deputy attorney-general of the Republic of Singapore. Niam has served as deputy chairman of MPA since July of 2016, following his retirement from the country’s Administrative Service after 33 years in various roles in the pub...

A third marine terminal operator wants truckers to make appointments before picking-up cargo at the Port of Oakland. TraPac said today it will require appointments for all import container pick-ups beginning Dec. 6, noting how the appointment system will reduce waiting times by more evenly distributing truck arrivals throughout the day. TraPac becomes the third of four terminals to require appointments in Oakland. The others are Everport and Oakland Internation...

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Mediterranean Shipping Company said Thursday that they have submitted an offer to acquire Hanjin's interests in Total Terminals International (TTI). TTI leases and operates Pier T in Long Beach, Calif. and Terminal 46 in Seattle. An MSC spokesperson told American Shipper the deal includes both facilities. Hanjin is selling its 50 percent interest in TTI as part of the rehabilitation process being administered by the Bankruptcy ...

The Armitt Group has signed an agreement with Hutchison Ports for the operation of a new steel handling facility at London Thamesport in the United Kingdom, according to a joint statement from the firms. The purpose-built, 120,000-square-foot steel handling terminal, construction of which has already begun, will allow The Armitt Group to offer customers access to London Thamesport's deep-water berths, as well as its rail and road links to London and the rest of the UK. Construct...

CargoSmart, a provider of ship management software, reviewed the performance at six ports before and after the new verified gross mass (VGM) amendment of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention took effect July 1. The six ports analyzed from March-May 2016 and from July-September 2016 included the ports of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) and Tanjung Pelepas in Asia, Rotterdam and Felixstowe in Europe, and Los Angeles and Savannah in North America. CargoSmart rev...

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach said they are planning to update their Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) to reduce greenhouse gases by aggressively deploying zero and near-zero emission trucks and cargo-handling equipment, in addition to strengthening programs that reduce ship emissions. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions, they said, will also help the ports further reduce pollutants such as diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The ports al...

French ocean carrier CMA CGM said that APL, which it acquired earlier this year when it purchased Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, has regained “new momentum.” CMA CGM is maintaining APL as a distinct brand. APL's performance has improved in the first three months under the ownership of CMA CGM Group, despite a challenging market, CMA CGM said. APL’s volumes in the third quarter of this year totaled 1.3 million TEUs, which CMA CGM said was 9.9 percent high...

Port workers in Brazil are expected to begin a 24-hour strike today, according to a report from Reuters news service. The Reuters report cited a statement from shipping agent Williams Brazil, which said the union representing the port workers was calling for a national strike, but did not indicate the union's specific demands. Williams Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment and clarification. As noted in the Reuters report, exports ...

The Prologis Oakland Global Logistics Center is just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco Source: PROLOGIS Last month, 17 years after the Oakland Army Base was closed by the federal government, executives from the real estate developer Prologis and city officials took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new warehouse complex on a portion of the former military installation owned by the city of Oakland. The Prologis Oakland Global Logistics Center is located on a tract o...

South Korean shipping conglomerate Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has been selected as the preferred bidder for now insolvent Hanjin Shipping’s port terminal operation in Algeciras, Spain, HMM said in a statement. The company expects to finalize the purchase of a 100 percent stake in Total Terminal International (TTI) Algeciras in late December, subject to due diligence. The 357,750-square-meter TTI Algeciras terminal is capable of handling containerships with over 1...

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in British Columbia, Canada has appointed Victor Pang as chief financial officer, effective Nov. 28, 2016. Pang, who comes to the Pacific Northwest port authority after seven years with Vancouver-based CHC Helicopters, succeeds retiring CFO Allan Baydala. Pär Sundblad was promoted to managing director of Scandinavian Shipping & Logistics after joining the company in 2015 as a business development manager. A 23-year veteran in both contain...

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which comprises the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., handled 304,703 TEUs in October, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year, according to figures from the port authority. Through the first 10 months of 2016, total container throughput at NWSA stood at 2.96 million TEUs, down just 0.1 percent from the same 2015 period. Loaded export container volumes are up 12.7 percent year-to-date at 802,343 TEUs, but exports of emp...

The government of the Philippines has approved construction of a new, 9.2 billion Phillipine peso (U.S. $185 million) container terminal at the Port of Cebu, according to multiple media reports. Construction of the 500,000-TEU capacity New Cebu International Container Port is scheduled to begin in third quarter 2017 and the port is expected to be operational by second quarter 2020. The new port terminal will be located at Barangay Tayud, Consolacion, about five mile...

APM Terminals (APMT) has selected four subsidiaries of the Willemen Groep - Aswebo, Aannemingen Van Wellen, Franki Construct and Cosimco - to handle construction of its new container terminal at the Tanger-Med II port complex in Morocco, the construction conglomerate said in a statement. Scheduled to open in 2019, the APM Terminals Tangier MedPort facility will be the first automated container terminal in Africa, featuring a quay length of 1,200 meters, according to the port ter...

In the midst of a major initiative for port modernization, the Port Authority of Guam has started using the Navis N4 terminal operating system, Navis reported. The Port of Guam is a government-owned, multi-purpose port, handling containers, breakbulk, bulk, and roll-on/roll-off cargo. In addition to serving its own population, the port acts as a transshipment hub for the Pacific, serving the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and t...

The Port of Philadelphia is receiving over $300 million for infrastructure, warehousing and equipment upgrades, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday. Officials at the port anticipate work will begin early next year, thanks to the comprehensive capital investment program. Work on the upgrades will continue through 2020. At the same time, the port has suspended plans to develop a major new marine terminal at Southport in favor of expanding automobile processing at ...

The Port of Philadelphia is receiving over $300 million for infrastructure, warehousing and equipment upgrades, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday. Officials at the port anticipate work will begin early next year, thanks to the comprehensive capital investment program. Work on the upgrades will continue through 2020. At the same time, the port has suspended plans to develop a major new marine terminal at Southport in favor of expanding automobile processing at ...

A group of 31 truck drivers have filed a complaint against a half dozen container terminals or shipping lines and their employees at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, saying they were denied access to terminals during strikes organized by the Teamsters. In a complaint filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, South District, the truckers claimed the terminals “cooperated and conspired with the Teamsters in order to insure peace with the T...

The Port of Savannah handled 251,566 loaded TEUs in October 2016, a 2.4 percent increase from the previous year and a record for the month, according to data from the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA). In the first four months of its fiscal 2017 year, which began July 1, 2016, laden container volumes grew 4 percent to 1.01 million TEUs compared with the same FY2016 period. Total tonnage across all GPA terminals ticked up 0.5 percent to 10.36 million tons compa...

The Tulsa Port of Catoosa continued to see increased barge traffic during the month of October 2016, according recent figures from the City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority. The Oklahoma river port handled 213,717 tons of cargo in 111 barges throughout October, a 30.2 percent jump from 164,171 tons in 90 barges the previous month. The port authority noted the cargo handled by Tulsa Port of Catoosa would have equated to 8,500 extra trucks on roads and highways h...

The Port of Huelva, located on the southern coast of Spain, has gained a new logistics facility for the storage and blending of minerals and metal concentrates. The new facility is 80 percent owned by Impala Terminals Group and 20 percent owned by Berge Infraestructuras y Servicios Logisticos SL. Impala Terminals said it has invested over 60 million euros (U.S. $63.7 million) into the facility, which is capable of handling over one million tons of imported and expor...

Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu was re-elected to his second three-year term as president of the council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) . Dr. Aliu assumed the office of ICAO council president on Jan. 1, 2014, having previously served as the representative of Nigeria since Jan. 1, 2005. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Muhammad Ali Albakri as regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East (AME), effective Jan. 1, 2017. He...

Hanjin Shipping is selling parts of its container shipping business, including its transpacific service between Asia and the United States, along with related assets, to bulk shipping operator Korea Line Corp. for 37 billion won (U.S. $31.5 million). A Hanjin spokesperson said the company was “not in the position to reveal any details on the on going contract” and referred American Shipper to a Yonhap News Agency article that said the sale will be completed Jan. 5 and will inclu...

The Port of Wilmington, Del. is spending $10 million to acquire a 114-acre site from Chemours Company in Edgemoor, Del., about three miles north of its existing terminals. The acquisition is expected to close early next year and will substantially expand the port, which today, has a 308-acre site at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina rivers. The new Chemours tract is on Hay Road. Located on the Delaware River and served by rail, the tract could potentially...

The Port of Montréal’s new container terminal in the Viau sector was inaugurated Friday, the Montréal Port Authority reported. The Canadian port is situated along the St. Lawrence River, and according to BlueWater Reporting , the port is frequented by seven fully cellular container services. The new terminal will boost the port’s handling capacity by 450,000 TEUs. Once the second phase of work is completed at the terminal in the years to come, total handling capacit...

The Port of Jacksonville, Fla. (JAXPORT) has officially opened its new $30 million on-dock rail terminal to commercial intermodal traffic, the port said in a statement. JAXPORT’s Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) was constructed with $20 million in funding from the state of Florida and $10 million in federal TIGER grant funds. ICTF provides rail service to the Blount Island Marine Terminal and TraPac Container Terminal at Dames Point, connecting the cont...

ZPMC, the Chinese manufacturer of massive ship-to-shore cranes used at container terminals around the world, is in the process of raising 10 cranes at APM Terminals' (APMT) Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles so they can reach across next-generation ultra-large container vessels that carriers are deploying on trunk routes to maximize transport efficiency and reduce operating costs. ZPMC North America - the company’s regional sales, operations and warranty representative - is usi...

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) said it will begin publishing average container dwell times at 12 marine terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on a monthly basis. Dwell time is the amount of time a container waits to get picked up at a marine terminal after being unloaded from a vessel, and PMSA said it is “an indicator of how efficient the ports are operating and how quickly the containers are flowing through the terminals.” The init...

Waterways Council has named Tim Parker, president of Parker Towing, board chairman. Parker succeeds Merritt Lane, president and chief executive officer of Canal Barge Co. Meanwhile, the National Waterways Foundation has also elected its newest officers. Dan Mecklenborg, senior vice president of Ingram Barge Co., was picked to serve as the foundation's chairman. He succeeds Mark Knoy, president and CEO of American Commercial Barge Line, who remains immed...

NYK Ports on Wednesday acquired a 20 percent share in Maher Terminals, which operates a terminal at the Port of New York and New Jersey, NYK Line announced. Maher is the largest terminal at the port and has a handling capacity of 3 million TEUs. Once construction to raise the Bayonne Bridge’s clearance is completed in late 2017, the terminal will be equipped to handle 14,000-TEU containerships.

The Virginia Port Authority's board of commissioners on Tuesday approved two contracts worth $217 million with Finnish manufacturer Konecranes for 86 rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) used to stack and transfer ocean containers. Konecranes said the purchase marks the largest one-time order for automated stacking cranes (ASCs) in the company's history. The first 60 pieces of remote-controlled equipment are for Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), where planni...

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said Wednesday that it has completed the third phase of its program to replace diesel-powered rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs) with hybrid electric ones at the Port of Savannah. Almost one-third of its fleet of container stacking machines (45 out of 145), manufactured by Konecranes, have been purchased with, or converted to, electric power capability. The GPA is taking the unprecedented step of converting from a diesel yard op...

The Port of Long Beach’s October box volumes fell 6.2 percent year-over-year to 581,808 TEUs, resulting from the exceptionally strong throughput results last October and a decline in box volumes after Hanjin Shipping declared bankruptcy, the port said. Hanjin, which filed for bankruptcy at the end of August, accounted for about 12.3 percent of the port’s total containerized volumes. The Port of Long Beach’s loaded exports totaled 136,770 TEUs in October, while...

The Virginia Port Authority's board of commissioners on Tuesday approved two contracts worth $217 million with Finnish manufacturer Konecranes for 86 rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) used to stack and transfer ocean containers. Konecranes said the purchase marks the largest one-time order for automated stacking cranes (ASCs) in the company's history. The first 60 pieces of remote-controlled equipment are for Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), where planni...

The Port of Los Angeles handled 814,574 TEUs of cargo in October, marking the busiest month ever at a Western Hemisphere container port, according to data from the American Association of Port Authorities. The Southern California port said October box volumes were 15.6 percent higher than in October 2015. Loaded imports in October reached 417,311 TEUs, while loaded exports during the month totaled 166,406 TEUs, year-over-year increases of 16.4 percent and ...

Ports in southern New Zealand are still assessing damages both inside and outside their marine terminal gates in the aftermath of Monday’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake. The Port of Wellington, which is operated by CentrePort Wellington, has reported minor damage to various buildings on the property. Its general cargo and container wharf gates will remain tentatively closed through Nov. 22. However, the port's oil terminal reopened today. “We understand this is challengi...

Cambridge Systematics has promoted Karen D. Nocito to chief financial officer. Nocito brings more than 25 years of experience to the position, serving as the firm's controller for the last 19 years. Cambridge Systematics provides transportation planning and policy, analytics and modeling, and software solutions. The Chamber of Marine Commerce has appointed Bruce R. Burrows president, effective Dec. 1. He has more than 35 years of government relations and business development exp...

The governing boards of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will hold a joint public meeting Nov. 17 to discuss proposals for updating their decade-old Clean Air Action Plan. A discussion document between the two ports outlines their plans for expanding the strategies that have helped to dramatically reduce air pollution from port-related sources. The port authorities are proposing a path toward zero emissions, the next iteration of the Clean Truck Program, and ...

A massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked southern New Zealand Monday morning, resulting in marine terminal damage among the ports in the region. Derek Nind, chief executive officer of CentrePort Wellington, which operates the Port of Wellington and its container terminal, said his staff is conducting inspections of the port's property and assets during the daylight hours today. “We have sustained damage to buildings and the port and also some liquefacti...

The Port of Virginia set a single-month record for container throughput in October, as ocean carriers continue to favor the mid-Atlantic facility because of its ability to handle extra-large vessels they are increasingly deploying to the U.S. East Coast, the port authority said Monday. Volumes ticked up 2.2 percent from October 2015 to 238,567 TEUs, according to the latest port statistics. October was also the second-busiest month in the port’s history for rail volu...

Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 5.3 million tons in October, virtually unchanged from October 2015, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents 14 American companies that operate 56 U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes. Shipments from U.S. ports on the Great Lakes totaled 4.8 million tons in October, a 5.4 percent increase from October 2015. Meanwhile, iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes from Canada tumb...

Korea Line Corp. has been picked as the preferred bidder for the assets of Hanjin Shipping’s business between Asia and the United States, beating out Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), according to media reports. The deal comes as a surprise: Korea Line is a bulk shipping company and is not currently operating containerships. After Hanjin filed for court receivership on Aug. 31, Korea’s Financial Services Commission directed HMM, which at the time had been the seco...

Korea Line Corp. has been picked as the preferred bidder for the assets of Hanjin Shipping’s business between Asia and the United States, beating out Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), according to media reports. The deal comes as a surprise: Korea Line is a bulk shipping company and is not currently operating containerships. After Hanjin filed for court receivership on Aug. 31, Korea’s Financial Services Commission directed HMM, which at the time had been the seco...

Container throughput at the Port of Charleston in October increased 2.9 percent from a year prior to 169,477 TEUs, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) said Thursday. During the first four months of SCPA's fiscal year, which began July 1, 2016, container volumes reached 689,753 TEUs, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period in 2015. Charleston is crawling back to break even after a stagnant start to the year, with calendar year volumes down 1.1 percent ...

Watco Companies, LLC will acquire 20 bulk terminal operations in the United States from Kinder Morgan Terminals (KMT), the company said in a statement. The purchase includes 14 inland waterway facilities, four rail and truck terminals, and two deep water port operations across the southern and midwestern U.S. The locations handle a wide range of dry bulk commodities, including ferro alloys, salt, coal, and various break bulk products. Financial terms of the deal wer...

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma has lengthened its extended gates program through Dec. 2 to support the peak shipping season’s strong agricultural exports, the port alliance said. “Based on the positive feedback we received from our customers, we are pleased to offer three additional weeks of the extended gate program, which was set to conclude on Nov. 11,” said Dustin Stoker, NWSA chief operations officer. The program i...

Tropical Shipping will be making port changes to its Canadian service early next year, the carrier said. Effective Jan. 9, 2017, Tropical will move its port operations from the Port of Saint John in New Brunswick to the Halterm Container Terminal at the Port of Halifax. The last sailing from the Port of Saint John will occur Dec. 27, 2016. The service will continue to operate on a weekly basis, departing each Monday from Halifax to F...

Port Tampa Bay has named Sal Kass vice president of operations, effective Jan. 31. Kass comes to the Florida port with 40 years of experience in marine operations. Most recently, he worked as general manager for Ports America’s Tampa operation. Jez McQueen has been appointed managing director of DHL Supply Chain in Hong Kong and Macau. Before that, he oversaw business development in China. He has been at DHL for 24 years.

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Korea Line have submitted bids for Hanjin Shipping's Asia-U.S. route, according to Korea's Yonhap News Agency and other media outlets. Yonhap cited sources that said "in addition to the U.S.-Asia route, Hyundai Merchant and Korea Line might have submitted bids for Hanjin's seven overseas operations, workforce and its (54 percent) stake in the Port of Long Beach, California, which could fetch up to 250 billion won (U.S. $29.4 billion) in to...

Chinese courts this week sentenced 49 people to prison for crimes related to the deadly August 2015 warehouse explosion in the northern port city of Tianjin, according to multiple media reports. The blasts ripped through a Ruihai Logistics Co. chemical storage warehouse in Tianjin port late at night on Aug. 12, 2015, leaving 165 people dead, eight missing and 798 injured, and damaging over 300 buildings, 12,000 vehicles, and 7,500 cargo containers. An article from the state-run ...

Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) announced a new vessel sharing agreement (VSA) on the Asia-Australia Wallaby and Panda services. The new VSA will take effect May 2017 and will include Maersk Line, MSC, Hamburg Sud and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). MSC said the Wallaby service to and from Northeast Asia will continue to operate between Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Qingdao, Shanghai (Yangshan), Ningbo, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama. MSC also said...